Sharapova ‘delusional’ as tempers and temperatures rise in Aussie heat

AUSTRALIAN OPEN contenders Maria Sharapova, David Nalbandian and James Blake called for a review of the tournament’s extreme heat policy after battling soaring temperatures to reach the second round.

Sharapova suffered cramps and said she became “delusional” playing French woman Camille Pin, while Nalbandian branded conditions “terrible” and “disgusting” after his distressed opponent Janko Tipsarevic withdrew.

American fifth seed James Blake, who is vice-president on the ATP Player Council, said it was paramount to think about the players’ health.

“I’m thinking that at some point there’s got to be a way to stop a match in that kind of heat,” he said.

“I think at some point we’re going to run into trouble where it gets serious. I’d hate to see someone become not a casualty, but someone go down, go to the emergency room, be in real tough situations over a tennis match.”

Sharapova, the top seed, bore the brunt of the heat.

“It’s inhumanly possible to play three hours in that kind of heat — I don’t think our bodies were made to do that,” she said after hanging on to beat Pin 6-3, 4-6, 9-7.

Temperatures hit 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) but Sharapova and Pin had to complete their centre-court match because it was already underway when organisers invoked the extreme heat rule.

This allows play to be stopped on outside courts when the mercury touches 35 Celsius but the roof cannot be closed on the Rod Laver Arena or Vodafone Arena until the match underway ends.

The Russian world number two said she did not agree with players having to continue in the heat on centre court, but she could not argue with the rules.

“A rule is a rule. Do I like it? Not necessarily, no,” she said.

Sharapova, who delayed her post-match press conference for almost two hours to recover, said the Australian Open would be better scheduled later in the year when the weather was cooler.

However, she acknowledged that moving one of the tennis calendar’s four Grand Slam events would be difficult as it would involve wholesale changes to the tour’s schedule.

“Do you think I support that I want to go out and play three hours in this kind of heat? No. I mean that would just be stupid,” she said.

“But ... it’s really hard to just take a big tournament and just move it where you’ve got a tournament every single week.

“I think all players would prefer to play in better conditions.”

Argentinian eighth seed Nalbandian, one of the most durable players on the circuit, said more should be done to look after the players’ welfare in the extreme heat.

“When we are playing in these conditions I think you need more help,” he said. “Okay the rules are like this, so we couldn’t change it (today). But if you ask everybody, they will say that we need more help.”